About 68 percent of Chinese people believe that it would be impossible for North Korea to become a "permanent nuclear weapons state," an online survey by the website of Hong Kong's Phoenix Television showed Wednesday.

The survey of 39,333 Chinese people, conducted since Jan. 11, showed that 67.9 percent of them replied "impossible" when asked whether North Korea could become a permanent nuclear weapons state, given the North's fourth nuclear test on Jan. 6.

China, North Korea's diplomatic backer and economic lifeline, has expressed displeasure over the North's nuclear and missile programs, but resisted calls for tougher new sanctions against North Korea following the latest nuclear test.

Many analysts believe that China's Communist Party leadership won't exert enough leverage on North Korea because a sudden collapse of the North's regime could threaten China's own security interests.

Weeks after the latest nuclear test, North Korea notified U.N. agencies on Tuesday of its plan to launch a long-range rocket carrying what it calls an "earth observation satellite" some time between Feb. 8 and 25.

Such launches have been viewed by the international community as disguised ballistic missile tests and North Korea is banned from conducting them under U.N. resolutions. (Yonhap)